The Brotherhood returns
by Aqua111
Summary: This alternate universe storyline starts from the point where Locke gives his life to break the hex on the Master Emerald and turn his son from Enerjak back to Knuckles.


Author's note: This alternate universe storyline starts from the point where Locke gives his life to break the hex on the Master Emerald and turn his son from Enerjak back to Knuckles. Lien-Da never joined forces with Dr Robotnik. Furthermore the Legion is split into three departments - the normal Dark Legion, the Frost and the Flame Legion, each of them specialising in different weapons. How Lien-Da and the rest of the Legions got their cybernetic body parts back and how they came to the compromise to live as neutral neighbours to the people of Albion for at least some time - well, maybe I will still write a prequel to that if I get enough ideas and once I'm finished with the other stories I planned to let follow this one.

All of the characters are (c) Ken Penders/Archie Comics/Sega

End of author's note.

The smell of sweat and blood was in his nose when Spectre slowly regained consciousness. Every single muscle in his body was hurting. When he opened his eyes he saw darkness around him. There was only a small stripe of light a few steps away from him that came from the gap between a door and the floor. He weakly reached out a hand and touched another body. It was warm and he thought he could even feel a light heartbeat. He had no clue who was lying close to him but he believed it was one of the other Brotherhood members.

Spectre stared into the darkness. How did they even get into this dark place? He could remember the fight in the Emerald Chamber, could remember the portal that hauled them into the Twilight Zone and how they landed right in the middle of a Dark Legion camp. But what happened between the fight and their exile and what happened after? His memory was too blurry but he could imagine what followed. The Legions on Mobius might have agreed to peace for some time but the people who still had remained in the Twilight Zone did not know about that - and possibly also did not care, especially not with their recent Grandmaster. Four weakened Guardians surrounded by an army of Dark Legionnaires commanded by Moritori - they would have never stood a chance. How long had they already been lying here unconscious? Just a few minutes? Hours? Days? But then again - was there really a way to measure time in this zone? As far as he knew years could pass by in the rest of the world while it just felt like a little moment in the Twilight Zone.

The other Echidna - he still didn't believe that it was anyone else than one of his fellow Guardians - slightly moaned and moved a bit.

"Hey, are you okay?" Spectre whispered.

"S-Spectre? Is that you?" Thunderhawk's voice still sounded weak. "Where are the others?"

"Don't know. I first wanted to wait until I was able to move again before searching for them."

Normally his Chaos powers would have healed him in no time but now he started to notice that something was missing, that something inside him was gone.

"This room is a Chaos Siphon", he said, "Of course - they don't want us to get away that easily."

The dark Echidna tried to scan the area for other Guardians but it was only causing his head to hurt even more.

"What I wonder is why they still left us alive", Thunderhawk said and tried to turn around but gave it up with a pained groan.

"They did what their Grandmaster ordered them to do and it is Moritori we are speaking of." Spectre laughed humourless. "I bet he wants to toy a bit with his prey before slaughtering it."

The door opened and a Legionnaire was standing in front of it. "Are you finally awake?" he asked. Spectre suddenly could feel a bit of the Chaos force returning into his body. It was sucked away by the Siphon again but it still had felt like a warm streak of sun on a cold day and gave him the chance to start healing up.

"Hard to believe that our Grandmaster didn't order us to kill you immediately", the Legionnaire continued, "but he must have his reasons. Anyways, he wants ..."

But Spectre didn't even want to listen. As soon as his eyes got used to the sudden brightness he looked around and searched the cell they had been locked up in for the other Guardians. Sojourner was lying at his other side but further away than Thunderhawk. Part of his body was scratched so it looked as if he had been in a fight with an angry cat. Close to the wall there was Sabre. Spectre felt as if his blood was freezing when his eyes fell on him.

The door suddenly was slammed shut again and from outside a second voice could be heard, "Are you crazy? You know that the Siphon is only working correctly when the door stays shut."

"Calm down, they were still wounded."

"We have the order to come in groups of at least three when we need to get one of them."

It sounded as if they were slowly walking away.

Though covered in darkness again Spectre still stared at the place where Sabre was lying, still could see the picture in his head: Sabre lying on his stomach, his fur and clothes covered in dried blood. His muscles were still hurting but not as bad as before so he managed to get onto his knees and crawled over to the badly wounded Guardian.

"What in Edmund's name happened to him?" he whispered while he carefully checked Sabre for signs of life. He was breathing but it was weak.

"Moritori knew that a bunch of Guardians would arrive to this damn zone and in this damn camp only shortly after him and he ordered an immediate attack as soon as one of us showed up in their middle", Thunderhawk said. "Sabre was the unlucky one who landed at the spot most Legionnaires were aiming at. The only reason why he's still alive is because he instinctively built up a shield around him while we were in the portal. There were enough blasts to hit him but none of them reached a deadly force when they had to go through that shield. He was the first to break down. You passed out only seconds later, yet I have to admire you. This zone nearly cuts our bond to the Master Emerald and we're weaker than usually but you managed to get enough energy and blast away the Legionnaires close to us. I was busy protecting myself against the assault of a whole army but the bit I saw from your fight looked like you were able to battle with the same brute force as usual. For a second I was even afraid you could overload with Chaos energy - the same that happened to Knuckles when he became Chaos Knuckles - but obviously it was too much for your body to bear and after another mighty Chaos blast that took out several Legionnaires at once you broke down. Sojourner and I were the next after they didn't have to mostly concentrate on a too mighty enemy anymore."

"Thunderhawk?" Sojourner's weak voice was heard.

"I'm here. We're all here."

"That's good", he mumbled. "Gosh, it's dark in here."

Spectre looked down where the still lifeless Sabre was lying and wished he had enough Chaos energy left to help the other one healing. Then he felt that the younger male was moving a bit.

"Sabre, can you hear me?"

"Hm..." He sounded very weak but still made a try to get up.

"Don't move too much ", Spectre quickly said. "You lost a lot of blood and I'm not sure if your wounds had enough time to heal."

Steps were heard outside and the door opened another time. Again this warm feeling flooded through Spectre's body and the pain in his muscles slowly faded.

"He didn't specify which one so let's just take the one nearest to the door or the weakest." It was the voice of the Legionnaire who had opened the door before and this time two colleagues were with him.

Immediately Spectre got up and stood protectively in front of Sabre, Thunderhawk and Sojourner were on their feet too although they all knew that they couldn't even try to fight. They had no powers and their enemy was fully armed.

"Oh, so many volunteers", the Legionnaire said with a chuckle. Then he went into the cell, grabbed Sojourners arm and dragged him with him.

"You don't even think about attacking or your friend is dead", he said to the other Guardians then turned his head to Sojourner who stared at him with a look full of hate, "And you don't even try to escape or else they will be executed immediately." The door was slammed shut again.

Spectre was shivering with anger. His whole life he had been a fighter and now all he was able to do was standing there, helplessly watching. He was longing for revenge on Moritori for such a long time. Revenge for his ruined childhood, revenge for the early death of his parents, revenge for the invasion into Haven, revenge for absolutely everything he had done. But instead the Grandmaster got his hands on four of the remaining Brotherhood members, got the chance to torture and kill them in a world where they could barely defend themselves.

He felt Sabre walking pass him. The door had been opened long enough to make his strength return although he still was standing a bit unsecure and had to hold on Spectre's shoulder for a second.

"We need to find a way out of here", he said. "At least a way out of the camp."

"But how?" Spectre said with a grim look at the small stripe of light at the bottom of the door. "We would need our powers to get out of this room in first place and unfortunately the only way to regain part of them is behind a closed door."

"Those doors are just locked. I heard them turn a key after they shut it."

"Yes, great, now we only have to get that key. Oh, wait, nearly forgot that the key is behind a locked door as well." Spectre hadn't wanted to give Sabre a sarcastic sassback but his anger let him blurt it out before he could think.

"You forget who my father is", Sabre calmly replied. "I grew up in a tribe of nomads and was taught a lot of little stuff someone who was raised as Guardian from early childhood on would never learn because you rely on your powers too much. Do we have something long and thin?"

Thunderhawk opened the little bag he always wore on his belt.

"Is something that feels like a paper clip good enough?"

"Better than I thought."

The two other Guardians heard how he was working around at the door. Was he really trying to break the door open like a thief? With a paper clip? In complete darkness?

Spectre tried to count the seconds how long they were already silently waiting but he gave it up after a few minutes. And then a silent click was heard and the door slightly opened.

"Sorry that it took me that long", Sabre said, "I'm a bit out of practice."

The others just stared at the door for a few seconds then Spectre said, "The next time Athair shows up in Haven 2 I'll tell him he has a son to be proud of."

They could move through the corridors without making a sound - their powers allowed them to levitate and talk through telepathy again.

"I don't trust this at all", Sabre thought. "We haven't met any guards yet and that in a house where they have locked up prisoners."

"This is Moritori's house I would say", Spectre replied, "The whole thing is a camp and normally there aren't any people other than Dark Legionnaires sent to this zone which means there would be no reason to build a prison. So I guess the only reason why they have built this house is because their Grandmaster didn't want to sleep in a tent. And Moritori either doesn't want too many Legionnaires in his house or he feels too secure."

"Secure? He kept a bunch of Guardians imprisoned."

"In a room with a Chaos Siphon and he believed them to be normal Guardians who rely too much on their powers but are completely helpless without them."

"But he was in Haven long enough. He also knows where I grew up."

"Actually I don't think he was ever interested in us unless it was about our weaknesses. Your father teaching you how to survive on the streets was nothing he cared about."

A bloodcurdling scream interrupted them.

"Sojourner!"

They rushed into the direction where it had come from until they reached a room with opened doors. The three Legionnaires they had already seen before were leaning against a wall, looking amused. Sojourner was lying coiled up on the floor, his arms wrapped around his belly. Moritori stood over him with a cold smile, in his hand a dagger. Blood dripped from it on the floor. The Guardian's powers could heal the wound within seconds but still the pain remained.

"Somewhere in this room there must be another Chaos Siphon. It allows him to heal but nothing else", Thunderhawk thought. Even his thoughts sounded horrified.

Spectre maltreated his brain for ideas how to get Sojourner out, how to get them all out alive but but he could think of nothing else than the desperate wish to make Moritori pay for everything. He could still hear what Sabre was thinking - disjointed parts of plans how to help Sojourner - and in a reflex movement he was covering his ears although he knew this wouldn't help as long as the voice was in his mind and so he let his hands sink down again.

"Sabre, please stop that", now Thunderhawk was heard as well. "You are still sharing a telepathic bond with us so either cut it down or think straight. This is disturbing."

"Sorry."

But now with the voices gone Spectre could hear even better what was going on in the room.

"Do you have enough, little Guardian? Do you want me to stop the pain, huh? I said _do you want me to stop_", he heard Moritori saying then steps; someone was forcing Sojourner to his feet again, and another cry of pain. If Thunderhawk hadn't grabbed his arm that moment Spectre would just have stormed into the room not caring if he would be powerless then and his enemies were fully armed.

"It is insane and we might only be able to get out of the building together that way and I have no idea how we will get through the camp but it is the only way I can think of how to help Sojourner." Sabre's thoughts were fast and it sounded as if he had problems wording them clear enough for the others to understand and not thinking about two or more words exactly the same time. "Outside our powers are working so one of us stays back and starts an attack or holds the enemies in line as long as possible while two get in there and get Sojourner out. I will be the one attacking because I'm not sure I fast I can run or if I can carry any weight."

The others looked at him.

"But do you feel strong enough to use your powers?" Thunderhawk asked.

"Of course. It was my body that was attacked and still feels weak, not my powers." He also looked at Spectre for his approval and when the dark Echidna nodded Sabre took a deep breath, stepped in front of the door, spread his arms and closed his eyes. Beams of green light shot into the room, nailed the guards against the walls and pushed Moritori back a few steps. The Siphon was only built to suck up powers hidden inside not to deal with free flying ones. Thunderhawk and Spectre stormed the room, helped Sojourner to stand up and supported him while walking out again.

"You..." Moritori snarled. "You will never leave the camp alive. In the Twilight Zone your powers are worth a damn."

"Quick ... I can't hold it any longer", Sabre cried out.

"See?" the Grandmaster asked with a cold smile and Spectre noticed that he and the three Legionnaires started to move closer again, slowly because they still had to fight against Sabre's attack but still it was clear that its effects were fading.

As soon as they were out of the room Sabre completely stopped his attack and they ran as fast as they could which unfortunately wasn't fast enough after they didn't want to leave the still weakened Sojourner and Sabre behind. Before them troops were storming the building, behind them there were Moritori and the three guards. Once again they were surrounded.

They were standing back to back, weapons aimed at them. Then Moritori's words were heard. "Execute them."

And Spectre felt the familiar rage burning inside of him. It was filling him up with energy but instead of an attack clouds of smoke shot out of the floor and the four Guardians were pressed against each other. When the smoke disappeared and they could move freely again the surrounding had changed. Now they were standing in a plain empty desert made of dark grey sand. The sky above was grey too but much lighter.

"Where ... are we?" Sojourner asked, looking around. "Or better, how did we even manage to get there? I thought our powers were worth nothing here but a teleportation would be one of the mightiest... Spectre!"

Now they had noticed that the dark Echidna had sunken to his knees.

"It's okay..." Spectre mumbled. "Just a sudden feeling of faintness. I guess this outburst of energy was too much for my body again."

Thunderhawk looked up the sky. "There must be another way to get out of the Twilight Zone. We can't wait for an energy source coming from Mobius to open the portal again. One Guardian alone hasn't enough strength but maybe if we combine our powers it will work. Not you", he quickly added when he saw that Spectre had stood up again, "You still need to rest."

"But what about you? You are exhausted too", Spectre tried to argue.

"Like I already said, only our bodies are wounded, not our powers", Sabre exclaimed, "You on the other hand..."

"Alright, alright, I understood", the dark Echidna said and sat down again.

He watched how three beams of green light were shot into the sky but it had no other effect than colouring the clouds.

"It's useless", Sojourner sighed after a while and sat down into the sand too. "And even if we were able to create a portal Spectre would have been the only one who could have walked through it because I bet we would have needed three Guardians to keep it open all the time."

Spectre had started meditating to recover faster and barely listened to what the others were talking about. He had a bad feeling in his guts but at first he didn't know why and guessed it was because he was as worried about how to get out as the others but then his eyes snapped open. All of his senses were alarmed. Of course they have searched the zone before and of course they have noticed the green beams.

"They are coming..." he whispered.

The others stared at him with widened eyes but he didn't look back at them and stood up. Again Chaos energy was rushing through his veins like adrenaline. The idea he just had was insane and it could kill him, he knew it, but better one dead Guardian and three back to Mobius than all of them dead.

A single Legionnaire appeared out of nothing and when he saw them he shouted into his communicator, "Sir, they are here..." He couldn't say more than that because Thunderhawk shot him with a blast but they knew those few words were enough to tell Moritori that they were where he presumed. Only a moment later the first few Legionnaires appeared and with each second more and more were following. Spectre lifted his hand and shot a Chaos blast but it wasn't hitting anyone. Instead it stopped a few steps away from him and formed a glowing ball of energy that was becoming larger and larger.

"What the heck are you doing?" Thunderhawk shouted but then he already saw what. The ball now turned into a ring but instead of seeing the grey desert and the appearing Legionnaires when they looked through it they saw a tunnel and something that looked like a white city at the end.

"Go...", Spectre grinded out. His arm was shivering and sweat ran over his face but he still concentrated on holding the gate open.

"B-but we can't leave you", Sojourner stuttered.

"I said GO!" the dark Echidna screamed. Now his whole body was shaking and he tried his best to keep standing. Sabre grabbed Sojourner's arm and dragged him into the tunnel, Thunderhawk was close behind them. They had only run a few steps when they heard a shotgun blast behind them. The whole tunnel was shivering. Sojourner turned around, eyes widened in horror when he saw Spectre breaking down.

"NO!"

He wanted to run back but now Thunderhawk also grabbed his arm and held him back. "The tunnel is closing. We have to move on. There's nothing we can do." His voice was trembling and he quickly turned his face away. The tunnel was shaking stronger and they knew they couldn't stay here for much longer, knew they had to reach Mobius as fast as possible.

Spectre was lying on his stomach, heavily breathing. His back burned and he could feel that they were coming closer but he knew he couldn't defend himself. He couldn't even get up anymore. And then he felt a new source of energy around him. The world got blurry but not as if he was fainting. More as if he was surrounded by thick fog. The pain in his back slowly faded and his strength returned. Carefully he stood up and looked around. He still could feel the sand under his feet so he must have stayed in the desert but the Dark Legion was gone and he could see nothing more than the light grey fog. Steps were heard in the distance and although he knew that he was in a hostile area and still had been surrounded by enemies moments ago he was sure that he didn't have to fear whoever was approaching him. Actually he never had felt more secure than in this thick fog together with the stranger. Now he saw the figure of a male Echidna, a few steps later he could also see colours - a red Echidna with blue eyes who wore a green tunic and green boots.

"Who are you?" Spectre asked when the stranger was standing right in front of him.

"I think you know", was the reply and the unknown Echidna smiled.

Suddenly memories were shooting through Spectre's mind, memories of a long lost childhood, memories buried long time ago. He was a little child sitting on someone's lap, someone who wasn't his mother or one of his grandparents and he heard the same warm voice, looked into the same blue eyes.

"Tobor..." he whispered. For a split-second he had the word "father" in his mind but he pushed it aside. This was the word he used to call the imposter Moritori for decades and he didn't want to use it for someone he once had loved. At least not yet.

"What happened? Why are you here? I thought you were dead."

"I am dead, more or less, but that doesn't mean I can't return. A dead Guardian moves to a higher level of existence. We can still walk around freely on the planet, watch over the island, whatever we feel like to do until the heralds are calling us and Aurora wants us by her side, but we are not allowed to interfere in anything no matter what. When I return you can bet I will be in a hell lot of trouble."

Spectre didn't understand. Inside of him sadness, happiness and confusion were having a fierce battle. His father had broken the rules to save his life and now he was breaking them even more and showed himself. But why? If he really wanted to see his son and talk to him again why didn't he wait until he had reached a higher level of existence as well?

"Why did you intervene?"

"Don't tell me, you wanted to die."

"No but..." The riot of feelings wasn't making it easy to find the right words but Tobor seemed to understand.

"My greatest wish since I returned to the Floating Island was to see you in person and to talk to you at least one more time. Thanks to Kragok it never came true. But since that time I was there by your side to watch over you. I never had much time to be a father so I at least wanted to be something like a guardian angel. I also was with you in the Twilight Zone and I hoped you would be able to escape with the others but when I saw you were shot and knew you would die if no one would come to help I couldn't stay back anymore. Sure that it was my greatest wish to meet you again, sure we would have met in the afterlife but it would have been egoistic if your guardian angel let you die just because of his own wishes. Your time hasn't come, I know it. And there are still people outside who need you."

Spectre was staring at the floor. He tried to control his voice when he was speaking again but still he couldn't avoid that it was trembling a bit.

"Your time also hadn't come. You still should have been alive."

"It has because I decided to die and take Kragok with me. Believe me, it was a hard decision and I didn't want to die but I had no other choice. Better we both dead and one dangerous Grandmaster less than we both alive and he able to join forces with Lien-Da and Dimitri. Each one of those alone is dangerous enough but when they are together they are absolutely deadly."

Spectre remembered what he had thought many moments ago before he had opened the portal._ 'Better one dead Guardian and three back to Mobius than all of them dead.'_ So his father had had a similar thought before his death. Then something else came to his mind. "You said that you watched over me. Then you also have seen what has become of me. What would you think of me now?"

Tobor tilted his head. "I know what I'm thinking of you now but I don't think it's the same that you think it is. So what are you afraid I could think of you?"

"Well ... I am dark, aggressive, illiberal and lose my temper too easily. I hate the Dark Legion and still I am dressing like one of them because I was used to it since my early childhood and even though I now know that the one I called my father all those years was an imposter I didn't change my style. Just because it was perfect to hide me. What do you think of a son who is too frightened to show himself, too weak to show his true feelings and tries to cover everything with aggression?"

For a few moments Tobor was silent as if he was thinking Spectre's words over, then he spoke again. "First of all, there had hardly been any Guardians who didn't lose their temper easily. We're a big family of hot-heads. Second, all of us had our individual style and didn't change that over the years no matter what the others thought about it. Let's take Rembrandt as an example. Every time I look at him I think of a holiday decoration in a pullover. And why in Edmund's name is he wearing oven mittens? Is he baking cookies the whole time?"

He smiled. Also the corners of Spectre's mouth twitched lightly but he still stared at the floor.

"No, seriously", Tobor continued, "You never hid anything. I noticed that the others always or at least most of the time knew how you were feeling although it's a lot harder to see emotions under that kind of wardrobe. But now let me tell you what I found out about you and what I see in you now after I have watched you for a while. In your early childhood your father was replaced by one of the enemies, your mother and grandmother died soon after that, your grandfather was broken-hearted because of the recent losses and the way his 'son' changed to the worst so he couldn't take care of you. You were left in the care of an Echidna who never wanted to raise a Guardian. He couldn't kill you because the other Brotherhood members were still there and he didn't want to lose his camouflage that early, not before he had gathered enough information about them and everything was set up and ready. Instead he tried to break you from inside. A weakened line of Guardians after him because they were stemming from a broken one would have been perfect. But instead he made you stronger, made you a fighter. In the following years you trained harder than anyone before in the hope to make your 'father' proud of you. Of course no Grandmaster would be proud of a Guardian offspring but while anyone else would have given up you didn't and worked even harder. I'm proud to tell you that all this made you one of the most powerful Guardians that have ever lived. Only Knuckles would be stronger but his strength comes from Locke's experiments, not from training."

Spectre bit his lips. It felt as if something large was stuck in his throat and it was hurting.

"This already leads us to a newer part of your life", Tobor continued, "Weren't you the only one who voiced his concerns about Locke continuing the experiments on himself and his son's egg while all the others had their concerns too but stayed quiet about it?"

"It ... didn't help", Spectre whispered so quiet he could barely be heard. Whispering was the only way he could hide his strong trembling voice and how much it already hurt to speak with that lump in his throat. "He still ... continued."

"Yes, I know. Forgive him his youth. Younger ones tend to think they can do better than their ancestors and while trying hard to avoid their family members' mistakes they make a lot of wrong choices themselves. Anyways, I was talking about you, not him. You also showed a lot of positive things in your later life. The people can account themselves lucky to have such a powerful Guardian on your side. You called yourself weak and frightened? But still you protected you people often enough from grave danger. While the other Guardians tried their best to always act in the background you appeared as a leader to your people, led them to escape when the cities were under attack, held speeches before them in times of crisis. You called yourself illiberal? But still you are more open minded and willing to criticize previous Brotherhood decisions while your descendants hold on to most of them as if they were strict rules. Furthermore since the time you were old enough to be counted as a full Guardian and had the allowance to enter Haven you had an eye on the imposter Tobor. You might not have known why at that time but I'm sure you mistrusted him more and more. Thanks to your mistrust Haven was prevented from being taken over by the Dark Legion later on. In the years that followed there had been more crises and civil wars than during all of the centuries since the Guardians existed and you kept fighting until Finitevus banished you to the Twilight Zone but even then it was far from over. You still didn't give up hope although everything looked hopeless, even would have sacrificed your life to save your son and grandsons. And you still are afraid of what I could think of you? Sure, you also have your flaws like we all have. But you would hardly find a father who is prouder of his son than the one who is standing in front of you right now."

Spectre was standing there with clenched fists, his whole body was now shivering slightly and if he bit his lower lip a little bit harder it would start bleeding. The pain in his chest and throat had grown stronger with every moment Tobor had talked. And now hot tears were welling up, tears he already had hold in for decades. He couldn't choke them back any longer. Tobor laid his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into embrace. For a few moments they just stood there without speaking, Spectre weeping silently into his father's shoulder. Tobor's near was warm and soothing, a new yet familiar feeling to the dark Echidna. After what seemed like an eternity he finally could lift up his head and look into his father's eyes. His face was still wet with tears but at least he felt calm enough again to speak.

"What will happen to you now?"

"I don't know what will happen to me. I will be punished for breaking the rules but I don't know how. The only one who ever did something similar was Athair and he's something completely different because he might be on another level of existence as well but he isn't dead yet. But whatever it is they can't kill me. A dead Echidna can't get deader." He chuckled but still there was sadness in his eyes. "Maybe they will keep me away from you and I can't be your Guardian Angel anymore. For sure we won't be able to see each other again before your time has come."

"I have expected something like that but at least we will meet again in afterlife. And you can be assured that I take good care of myself until then", Spectre said with a smile but then he looked serious again, "But first I guess I will have to find a way out of this zone. Can't you help me with that?"

The fog around them had lightened up a bit and also Tobor now looked as if he was fading.

"No, unfortunately not. My power was limited and I used it all to get you out of danger. Now you will have to find your own way. And also my time here is limited because by now they have found out where I am and what I have done and they are calling me back. It's a call I can't withstand."

Spectre sadly nodded. He didn't know anything else to say any more than a last goodbye but when he opened his mouth something else shot into his mind.

"I have one last question. Do you know why I was able to use such powerful abilities like teleportation or opening a gate to Mobius although our powers are limited in this zone?"

Tobor tilted his head while thinking then he said, "In times of great danger the Emerald can give a Guardian more power than usual. You might have been the only one to feel and actually use it because of your sensitivity."

"Sensitivity? Me?"

"Yes, you can feel approaching danger and you also felt that two Guardians had died - namely Hawking and me - long before the others knew it. How else would you explain that?"

The fog was now nearly gone and also Tobor could hardly be seen anymore.

"It's time to say farewell, Spectre. I wish you good luck and take care of you."

"Goodbye, and take care of you too ... father."

He was alone in the grey desert again. What should he do? His strength still hadn't fully returned and even if he could open a gate how should he keep it open and go through it the same time? Standing still didn't help him thinking so he started walking. Beside the more he moved around the harder he would be to find.

He had only been walking for what seemed like a few minutes when his senses were alarmed again. Someone had found him and it was only a matter of seconds until he was here. Spectre stood ready for a fight when a cloud of smoke shot out of the floor in front of him but before he could do anything something flew out of the cloud, hit his neck and snapped shut with a click. He touched it and it felt like a collar. The smoke disappeared and now Moritori was standing there with a cold grin on his face.

"Thank goodness that it was me finding one of you first this time. I might have ordered my troops to immediately kill you should they see one of you but on the other hand I also want to look you in the eyes before you're dying."

"That's what I've waited for a long time", Spectre growled, "Just you and me in a battle for life and death. And don't play coward again and cry for your troops."

"Haven't even thought about it."

There was something in his voice that made the dark Echidna suspicious. He tried to ready his first Chaos attack but it wasn't working. He still could feel it inside of him so there was no Siphon around but it still seemed to be blocked. The collar! His hands shot to his neck and he tried to rip it off but it was of a sturdy material and he also couldn't find a way to open it. Instead it now started choking him and he had the feeling as if it had gotten tighter.

"Go on, Guardian", Moritori said slightly amused. "It was built to get tighter over time anyways but if someone touches it, it will tighten even faster."

Slowly Spectre let his hands sink down and glowered at the Grandmaster then he clenched his fists. He never had been too fond of fights that didn't involve Chaos powers. A fist fight was something other people were doing but it wasn't appropriate for a well-trained Guardian. But now he had no other choice. His ancestors had died fulfilling their duties and he didn't want to be the only one waiting to be choked to death while a Grandmaster was watching.

Moritori could avoid his first blow; the next one hit him in the stomach. He stumbled back a few steps. The grin hadn't been wiped from his face completely but now it rather looked like a grimace. His lack of defence was making Spectre furious. Had this traitor really believed a Guardian would give up that easily? Another hit right into his face and this time Moritori finally started a counter attack, rammed his fists against Spectre's chest and made him stumble back. 'He also doesn't use Chaos attacks', Spectre grimly thought, 'Thinks the fey Guardian isn't worth wasting those powers and that his little collar will do the dirty work anyways.' He charged at him again but Moritori jumped out of the way, kicked him in the back and made him fall into the sand. Spectre jumped up again but instead of attacking him another time he was just standing and breathing heavily. The fight was costing his last bit of air and it was already very hard to breathe.

"What's up, Guardian? Don't tell me that it's already over."

Spectre made a few unsecure steps but then broke down to his knees. Bright dots appeared in his vision. It was over. He would die only moments after his father had risked everything to save his life.

"Aw, what a pity", he heard Moritori's mockingly voice. "But with the most fearsome of you fearsome foursome out of the way I can start taking care of the rest. Hm, who shall I chose next. What about that weakling Sojourner? I already had the pleasure of torturing him. He will be easy to break."

Something inside Spectre snapped in with a click. He could feel the Chaos energy raging through his body and tingling on his skin although he still couldn't use it. Grindingly he brought out, "You already ruined ... my childhood. You were ... the reason my mother ... died young. You were ... responsible for my ... father's death. But from now on ... Stay the hell away from my family!"

The last few words he had screamed out. The collar was exploding. Chaos energy burst out of his body.

Three Echidnas stumbled out of the portal and fell into the sand. Behind them the last part of the tunnel collapsed and the portal closed. For a moment they remained lying on the floor, heavily breathing then Thunderhawk slowly got up and looked around. They were at the shore of a lake. In the distance he could see a city on an island. Could that be Albion? Something was wrong about that picture. After the war the Echidnas had started rebuilding the city and that was months ago - maybe longer depending on how much time had passed on the rest of Mobius while the Guardians had been in the Twilight Zone. So why did it still look as if the city was in ruins? Sojourner and Sabre had gotten up too and now appeared at his sides. Their gazes were on the island as well.

"Is that smoke?" Sojourner asked.

Thunderhawk took a closer look and now saw the clouds of smoke as well. It looked like someone had recently put out a large fire.

"Guardians!"

They winced and quickly turned around. Another male Echidna ran closer and they needed a while before they recognised Remington. Without his uniform he looked so unfamiliar.

"Guardians, I'm so glad you are back. Where have you ... _What in Aurora's name has happened to you_?"

Thunderhawk knew how terrible they must have looked to Remington. Fur and clothes of one were covered in dry blood, the other two were scratched and bruised - one of them had been bleeding too but his fur was too bright red and he was wearing too few clothes to see it.

"Let's just say we had a few fights before we managed to escape the Twilight Zone", Thunderhawk said. "But that's not important right now. What has happened to the city?"

"We were attacked by the Flame Legion, sir, but fortunately we could fight them back after Knuckles and the Chaotix joined our forces as well. Buildings are damaged and people were injured but no one died", the former Constable reported.

"The Flame Legion? But I thought we had an agreement with Lien-Da."

"This wasn't her order, sir. The Flame Legion is out of her control. She doesn't even think that they are acting out of free will anymore. Knuckles and one of his friends are now secretly following the retreating troops to find out who is behind all this."

"We have to find Locke", Sabre said, "My boy has his eyes on the surveilling monitors all the time. He might have a clue."

When Locke's name fell Thunderhawk noticed the sudden change in Remington's face. He now was looking as if he was afraid of something.

"Constable, where is Locke?" Sabre said ignoring the fact that Remington stopped being Constable since the EST stopped existing.

"I ... Guardians, I'm so ... so sorry", Remington stuttered quickly looking from one to another, "Months ago Knuckles became the new Enerjak ... Finnitevus had put a hex on the Master Emerald and he was controlling the boy. Locke performed some kind of ritual to break the hex and it worked - Knuckles was freed - but ... but ..."

Sabre was clinging to Thunderhawk's arm. His grip was so tight that it hurt.

"The Master Emerald released all its powers at once as soon as the hex was broken", Remington continued. "Locke never had a chance."

Thunderhawk felt as if he was falling. First they had lost Spectre and now they learned about Locke's death. How much more did they still have to bear within such a short timespan? Sabre had loosened his grip and sunken to his knees and Sojourner knelt beside him and put his arms around him.

Now after Remington had finished the fear was gone from his eyes only to be replaced by sadness. He mainly looked at Sabre when he silently repeated, "I'm very sorry."

Thunderhawk tried to direct his thoughts towards the present situation again. He yearned for not having to feel anything anymore and also knew how much pain the others must have felt but they still were Guardians. Spectre and Locke fell in the line of duty and it wouldn't help if the rest of the Brotherhood was drowning in grief. With Spectre gone someone had to take the lead instead and after neither Sojourner nor Sabre looked as if they were able to it was up to the purple furred Guardian.

"Thank you Remington", he tried to say as calm as possible. "You can go now. They might need you in the city. And we will take care of the Flame Legion."

After the former Constable was gone he turned to the others who were still kneeling on the floor. Sabre hadn't said a single word so far nor had he shed a single tear. In fact he just stared into space with empty eyes.

"Come", Thunderhawk gently said, "We can't stay here forever."

Sojourner looked at him then he stood up and reached out a hand to help Sabre up.

They walked silently without really having a destiny. All they knew was that they had to find the Flame Legion but no one had a clue what to do if they found them. But at least they had something to do, something that could distract them. Or at least it was distraction for Sojourner and Thunderhawk while Sabre on the other hand...

The brown male might have taken Sojourner's hand, he might have gotten up and now might walk with them but he still looked as if he was far, far away.

The forest they had been walking through brightened after a while but instead of reaching a glade they soon stood in front of a high wall.

"Where did that come from?" Sojourner asked. "I can't remember anyone ever building something in that part of the woods."

"Let's get up and get a better view over it", Thunderhawk said.

They flew up and landed on a high tree. Hidden behind the leaves they could get a look over the wall and their mouths opened in surprise and shock. They saw something that was already a town of barracks and tents and dozens of soldiers dressed in the cloaks of the Flame Legion. In the middle of the town there was a tower; similar to the one Enerjak had created after his first return. It all must have been created by magic - no one was able to build a fortress of that size that fast and still stay unnoticed all the time.

"Holy ship..." Sojourner mumbled. "How are three Guardians supposed to handle an army?"

"We don't have to", Thunderhawk meant thoughtfully. "Maybe just a few guards but only until the spell they are under is broken. You have heard Remington. They haven't left the Dark Legion and joined another force because they wanted to. As soon as the ban is broken they have no reason to attack us anymore unless their true Grandmaster - either Lien-Da or Dimitri - gives the order. All we have to do is to destroy the source of magic. It's either inside of the tower or the tower itself, I can feel it."

Something made Thunderhawk suspicious. What he felt from the tower was not magic - it was Emerald power. The only living being that could control the Master Emerald like the Guardians was Dr Finitevus.

'Even better', Thunderhawk grimly thought, 'You still have to pay for a lot of things, Doctor.'

"Oh yes, good, we only have to walk into this place, risk to be killed from all sides and take a damn tower down and I'm sure we will have to sacrifice our lives for real when that thing falls."

Thunderhawk and Sojourner turned around just to see if it was really still Sabre who was standing beside them and not someone else. No one would ever have awaited such a rough and sarcastic tone from him.

"Sabre, it's our duty as Guardians", Sojourner started but he was cut off by the brown male again.

"Oh yes, we're Guardians. The people worship us like kings, no nearly like gods - or at least they do as if. But the real thing is that they just needed a bunch of victims. A group of chosen ones - chosen to be sacrificed in case of danger. The people will stay alive while we are led to the slaughtering block. Everything for the greater weal."

"Now listen up." Sojourner stood in front of his great-grandson with the hands put on his hips and anger in his eyes. "Grief as much as you want, but don't make innocent people responsible for our losses. Yes, we are Guardians. Yes, all of the Guardians died while fulfilling their duties. But they aren't the only ones. Hadn't it always been like that? Think of the many civil wars on Angel Island. Guardians weren't the only ones who were fighting against the Dark Legion. A lot of other Echidnas died just to protect their families and friends and only because of those sacrifices the Echidna race was able to survive. Had none of us been brave enough to stand up against our attackers, had we all given up immediately then our race would have died out long ago. The Guardians are honoured because they have sworn to always protect their people no matter what."

"Not all of them also want to take that duty. They were born as Guardians; no one asked them if they wanted to become Guardians. They had no other choice."

"You had the choice!" Sojourner shouted so loud that Thunderhawk feared that the soldiers behind the wall could hear them but he also didn't want to interfere. Not as long as a normally hard to anger Guardian was in such a rage. "Athair retired and became the leader of a nomad tribe instead. You were born in that tribe, you were raised like one of them and your father would have never forced you to start your training. It was your own choice to come back."

"I was a young fool. You know what fights my father and me had and I thought it would anger him the most if I returned to somewhere he never wanted to go back to."

"Steppenwolf also had the choice after he was the first Guardian. He took the mantle of duty right after his father died. And Rembrandt lost a son, just like you, but he also didn't give up that easily."

"But..."

"And do you think Locke didn't know exactly what he was doing when he decided to sacrifice himself? Do you believe Spectre would have let us die just because he had the ability to teleport out of the danger zone? Maybe they both couldn't choose if they wanted to be Guardians but they had the choice to either save their own lives or to die for others." He took a deep breath. His anger now slowly faded. "Sabre, I know this isn't really you who's speaking. You're mad with grief. But you have to stay strong. You mustn't let it take over your whole heart and soul. Locke died to free Knuckles, Spectre died to save us and they gave us four the chance to carry on. Now get a grip on yourself, old man, and don't let their sacrifice be worth a crap."

Thunderhawk started chuckling. Had he really just heard Sojourner calling his own great-grandson an "old man"? The others now noticed that he was still there and stared at him but once he had started laughing he couldn't stop that easily anymore.

"What the heck is so funny?" Sojourner asked.

"You have to talk 'old man'", Thunderhawk brought out between his chuckles.

"Oh you're so childish, Hawk." Sojourner rolled his eyes but now he was smiling too.

Sabre remained serious but at least life had returned into his previously empty eyes - a good sign. For a little while he stared at barracks then he said, "Hey, I'm sorry. This really shouldn't have happened to me."

Sojourner just waved his hand. "It's okay, it's okay. We all had been through a lot of things lately. And we all have our own ways to deal with it. One gets crazy, one explodes and one falls from the tree laughing."

Thunderhawk now bursted out laughing and had to cling to the branches or else he would have fallen from the tree for real and this time even Sabre slightly grinned.

"Gosh", the purple Echidna hiccuped after a while, "this is the strangest thing Guardians might ever have done. We are sitting in a tree, fighting at first and then bursting into laughter and that all in front of an enemy camp. If we told people about that they will think we've completely lost it."

"So, I guess it's time to get back to the a bit more serious themes", Sojourner said. "We should retreat to a safer place for now and think of a way how to get to that tower. Shall we go back to Albion?"

Thunderhawk lifted his head and searched the sky until he could see the well-known Floating Island. "No, we're flying up even higher. We're returning to Haven 2."

After no one had been there for months Haven 2 was dusty and full of spider webs but still the three Guardians felt as if they had come home again. Sabre wiped the dust cover off a computer and thought about what the tech wiz Locke would have said if he knew how his precious electronics were going to rack and ruin. The memory of his son gave him a sting in his heart and he knew that it would pain him even more when they had to work with things Locke had made or built up but he had to stay strong. He turned on the computer he just had de-dusted and started searching for something.

"A lot of useful things had been programmed on the workstations in Haven during the last few years", he explained while letting his eyes wander over the screen. "One of those things once launched Enerjak's citadel into space and caused the rest of Nekronopolis to vanish. Oh yes, this folder looks good. What do you think will await us if we manage to get through the camp and close to the tower?"

"I guess we have to enter it because I don't think Finitevus will come out when we just ring the doorbell", Thunderhawk said. "Maybe there will also be guards inside but it's way better if we had to take care of just a small group of guards instead of a whole army. Then I guess there will be alarm systems or traps. We will have to get rid of them or at least avoid them."

"Do you think there will be surveillance cameras? This program there once was written to freeze the picture a camera is showing."

"But what if it's a turning camera? Won't our enemies get suspicious if they always saw the same."

"Not really. As far as I know the picture can still change but the camera will only show what it filmed during its last turn before it was frozen. I just have to re-write it a bit because it only works for a certain amount of time and I want to make sure it keeps working long enough for our cause or that we can easily repeat it if we run out of time."

Sojourner watched Sabre's fingers flying over the keyboard and then stared at something that looked like hieroglyphs to him on the screen. "Where in Edmund's name did you learn to read program codes?"

"Well, you'll learn a lot of things if you are living for such a long time in Haven together with... with..." Sabre's voice faded away. For a split-second Locke's name had been in his mind but he couldn't say it out loud. Quickly he turned his face away and looked at the screen again.

The next hours Sojourner and Thunderhawk discussed about plans while Sabre searched for programs, did minor changes in codes, wrote a protocol of their plans or when they had to use which program and only threw in things once in a while. He didn't really have to write everything down but it was yet another way to keep him busy.

"We now only need a way to get our little helping programs to the tower because I don't think we can carry a whole workstation with us", Thunderhawk said after Sabre had typed the last few letters and started copying everything to a memory card.

"I can remember we once had some kind of mini computers in Haven", Sojourner said, "Like the one princess Sally used to carry around. I think it's still around somewhere."

Sabre stood up. "We will help you searching. After all there's not much else to do while we wait until it has finished copying."

In the archives they finally found one of the little computers. The batteries needed to be changed but after they had replaced them it was working fine. When they returned to the computer room Sabre stopped in the door.

"What is it?" Sojourner asked.

The younger Guardian slowly shook his head. "Nothing. I only had the sudden feeling that someone else was there only moments ago. Another Guardian."

"Maybe Knuckles?"

"Not sure. All I know is that he is gone now."

"And we should go now too", Thunderhawk said, put the memory card into the mini computer and handed it Sabre.

The walls weren't protected because no one believed anyone could climb over them - they were high and had sharp spikes on the top. No one had thought about the flying abilities of the three Guardians. And why should they have thought about it? The Guardians were believed to be dead and the only people who knew better were Remington and meanwhile maybe also the people of Albion.

The three were dressed in cloaks looking similar to the ones of the Flame Legion and the nightfall helped them to hide minor differences in their wardrobes. Still their way through the camp wasn't less dangerous because they knew as soon as someone decided to take a closer look at them their cover would be blown.

Finally they reached the tower and while Sabre used the minicomputer on the control panel beside the door to crack the code the others stood in front of him and shielded him from unwanted looks. A few passing soldiers took a quick glance at them but obviously it was normal for guards to stand in front of the door once in a while.

"I got it", Sabre whispered.

They waited until a bunch of Flame Legionnaires were out of sight then opened the door a little bit and slipped in. It needed them a while until their eyes got used to the sudden brightness. While Enerjak's tower rather had the look of a dungeon the corridor in front of them consisted of white walls, white floor tiles and light grey metal doors. It reminded them of a laboratory and with a shudder Thunderhawk thought about how Dr Finitevus had thoroughly examined the weakened Guardians before he had tossed them into the Twilight Zone. There also were several monitors on the walls. All of them showed different parts of the building. Sabre's program was working - the camera that was directed at them still showed the entrance door without the three Echidnas in front of it.

As silent as possible they walked up a few stairs and through many other corridors. Levitating would have been a quieter option but after Finitevus was nearly a living Chaos Emerald he might have immediately noticed when another Emerald source appeared in his tower.

"Guess I would feel much better if we had to hide from guards once in a while", Sojourner mumbled. "The whole thing looks as if we're walking right into a trap. And why do we even have to go up so many floors."

"I don't think Dr Finitevus would want to stay on one of the lower floors", Thunderhawk explained. "An enemy who has to walk for a long time will easier be spotted by a camera or guards than someone who just takes the door closest to the entrance."

"But this is Finitevus we're talking about", Sabre said in a voice as if something terrible had just come to his mind. "He would await an enemy to think this and while said enemy loses a lot of precious time searching for him, he really was in the room closest to the entrance all the time and has made sure that the intruder won't be able to leave anymore."

Thunderhawk stopped so suddenly that the others were running into him. He could have slapped himself - not only because he hadn't thought earlier about Finitevus' unusual ways to think and act. At the beginning he hadn't even been sure if the Emerald source was coming from inside the tower or the tower itself but later he was totally concerned that Finitevus would have wanted to have an eye on the controlled troops. But what if the albino already had left some time ago and the tower really had become the source afterwards? Maybe all they would have had to do to break the magic was to space a bunch of C4 on the ground floor.

But before he could think any further sirens sounded through the building. A few monitors showed the blinking letters "unauthorized entrance" and the cameras also seemed to work again because on some screens they now could see guards running through the corridors. Sabre smashed the keys of his minicomputer.

"Damn! The loop isn't working. I can neither stop the cameras nor the alarm anymore."

Thunderhawk grabbed the arms of the two others and dragged them with him. They ran as fast as they could, only tried to get out before being caught. A few times they had to change directions because else they would have risked running into the arms of their enemies. And then when they reached the first floor they heard troops coming from both sides of the corridor.

"Back, we have to go back up!" Thunderhawk hissed but now they also heard steps on the stairway. The purple Echidna noticed a smaller corridor to the left and dragged the others with him. It was a dead end. There were two doors but both of them were locked. They were trapped. It was over.

They stood with their backs against the wall waiting for the guards to come closer and detect them. Sabre was now pushing the keys on his minicomputer again and desperately tried to find something that could help them. Suddenly the typing sounds stopped and when Thunderhawk turned his head he saw that the younger Guardian was just staring at the little screen, mouth slightly opened.

"What is it?"

"I accidentally opened my protocol but there's something I haven't written and I have no clue what it means."

He showed it to Thunderhawk and Sojourner. At the end of the document there was a phrase they knew Sabre never had written: "Initiate space invasion".

Suddenly the alarm stopped and all of the screens darkened. The troops outside stopped as well and were loudly talking with each other but the Guardians didn't understand what they were saying because they all tried to talk at the same time. And then sound and screens went on again but different. They heard beeping sounds and white pixel figures were wandering over the screens.

"Who the hell is playing Space Invaders on our systems?" one of the guards shouted.

"They have to be in the control room", another one loudly said. "Up, we have to go up again."

The three Guardians heard that they were departing and running upstairs.

"I never ... never would have believed that I would be saved one day by ... Space Invaders", Sojourner whispered breathless.

"I told you that I had felt the presence of another Guardian in Haven 2", Sabre whispered, "But I don't think it was Knuckles. Maybe he knows how to write these things but something like this is totally not his style."

"It rather looks like Athair's style", Thunderhawk said and listened if all troops were gone now and it was safe to get out of the side corridor again.

"Athair can't write program codes."

A rumble went through the building, the floor and walls were shaking.

"The tower is about to collapse" Sojourner shouted. "Sabre, where the heck are you going? The exit is one floor under us."

Sabre already had run out of the corridor and to the stairways but he didn't take the way leading down.

"There are still people up there and it's our duty to make sure all of them will get out. Haven't you told me that we have to think about our duties first?"

"Oh if we are dying just because we had helped them I swear I'm going to kill you", Sojourner groaned and he and Thunderhawk followed him.

The three Guardians were the last to leave the building and outside they saw what had caused it to shake. Green energy balls were shooting over their heads, most of them hit the building. At first it looked as if the attack was directed towards the tower but then they noticed that those which hit it were only stray attacks of something that happened at the other side of the tower. For a few seconds they were just standing like stunned, watching the spectacle above then Thunderhawk yelled, "Down!" and dragged the others to the floor with him. Behind them the tower exploded. Boulders flew over their heads and everything was covered in dust.

_Sitting on the Master Emerald he performed the ritual to break the hex upon it._

_"The server are the seven chaos..."_

_He knew exactly what would happen once the Emerald was freed but he had no choice. There was no other way to save the world from Enerjak, no other way to save Knuckles._

_"Chaos is power, enriched by the heart..."_

_Tears were running over his cheeks when he said the last sentences to finish the ritual._

_"Release my boy! Give him his own life to lead!"_

_The hex was broken and energy burst out of the Emerald, shot through his body. Blinding light surrounded him and he felt as if he was burning from inside._

_And then he fell into darkness... Numbing darkness..._

Locke opened his eyes but he couldn't see anything. Everything around him was black. He was floating through a world of blackness. At first he thought he had become blind but then he looked down and still could see his body. Where had the Master Emerald sent him to? He wished he at least could tell the difference between up and down and as soon as he had thought this he felt a floor underneath his feet. It was as if gravity had just come back from lunch break and continued work.

"We have awaited you", a voice said behind him.

Locke turned around and saw Steppenwolf approaching him.

"I always thought I would be greeted by all former Guardians once I am dead." As soon as he had seen the first Guardian it had dawned on him. He was dead, there was no doubt anymore.

"No, unfortunately this time it's just me. We have to deal with a little problem called Tobor at the moment."

"So the energy outburst killed me but what about the others who were close to the Emerald? What about my son? Could I free him?" Strangely he didn't feel worried about what could have happened to the others or his son. Actually he couldn't feel anything at all anymore, no matter what he thought of. The only reason why he had asked was because he was interested in the fate of those living beings, the interest of a scientist.

"I don't know but we can watch them once we reached a higher level of existence if you're still interested then. Now take my hand."

"Don't take his hand", something whispered beside the younger Guardian. He could feel a presence at his side but he couldn't see anything.

"What are you doing here?" Steppenwolf asked and looked at a spot beside Locke. Could he see someone or did he just feel a presence as well and looked at where it came from? "You don't belong here."

"Take my hand and hold on tight", the voice said again and Locke felt that fingers wrapped around his hand.

Within a beat of the heart Steppenwolf and the darkness were gone. Bright light surrounded him and feelings he had lost with his death returned with such a force that he screamed in pain. He fell to the floor, coiled up and only wished he could still be dead just to make the pain stop. And then it suddenly was over. Locke remained lying on the floor heavily breathing and shivering.

"I'm sorry that this happened but there was nothing I could do to prevent it." There was this voice again.

Locke slowly lifted his head and looked at the brown Echidna who was standing by his side.

"Athair... What is this place?"

"My own private place. I might be part of the Neo Walkers now but even some kind of more or less godly being needs his privacy once in a while especially after he wasn't born as a more or less godly being and became it all out of sudden. It's quite comfortable but unfortunately only Aurora and Merlin, maybe some other godly beings as well if there are still some others existing, can see it. You as a mortal on the other hand... By the way, you are lying on my bed right now. I guessed the pain will lead you to a breakdown and brought you somewhere where you can have a soft landing."

Locke now noticed that he was lying a few centimeters over the floor. If he turned his head he would have looked at Athair's knees, not his feet. He was shivering again but now because of the coldness around him. Now he also noticed that he wasn't wearing clothes anymore and his fur wasn't thick enough to prevent him from the cold.

"Sorry, but this happens when someone is brought back from the dead. Here, take this", Athair said and reached him a fluffy white bathrobe. "You should thank me that you got rid of your tribal clothes. Those were looking really stupid and besides I don't really like brown."

"Uhm, your fur is brown and you wore brown clothes once as well", Locke said and put on the bathrobe. If it hadn't been so fluffy it would have looked as if he was wearing his old lab coat again.

"I only wore brown because it was the fashion of my tribe and the only things I could have done to avoid a brown fur would have been to shave it off or to dye it green and both would have looked ridiculous. At least it made me look forward instead of staring down all the time."

"So why have you even brought me here if I was dead anyways?" Locke changed the subject.

"Did you want to die?"

"Well, I had no other choice."

"I didn't ask you if you had the choice. I asked you if you really wanted to die like in 'I was finished with the world and so I committed suicide'."

"No, I did not commit suicide but still I willingly gave my life. I did it for Knuckles."

"So you still had a reason to live. And I'm telling you your dead was too early and your time hadn't come yet."

"You are telling me?"

"Boy, I once was chosen by the Ancient Walkers and now I'm walking through time and space at Aurora's side and both of them had been gods since I know so I think this makes me godly somehow as well."

"Alright..." Locke had never been standing in front of a stranger god, especially not a god who was his grandfather. "So you will send me back to Mobius, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure how much time I can give you?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It just means that even as a god I only can send you back once. If you get killed immediately after your return I can't do anything for you anymore although your time still hasn't come. Maybe you will also die way sooner than any other Guardian because of what you have done to your body. It was damaged by years of experiments with the Master Emerald. No Guardian had gone that far before and I really can't tell you the outcome of it. So try to make the best of your borrowed time."

Locke nodded.

"Oh, and there is something you also have to do when you return. Avoid to be recognized until the right time has come."

"And when will the right time come?"

"You will know. But until it's there you can show yourself or walk around among people if you want to but no one should know who you are."

"But why?"

"Because I'm breaking the rules. I know, my whole life I had been a rule breaker but I never tried to do this with a godly rule. Normally you would have to find your own way back to life and you would lose all your abilities in the progress and then have to relearn them later. But by then it will already be too late. We only might have spoken for something that felt like minutes but during that time weeks, maybe months have passed by in the mortal world. I will send you back to life immediately so you don't lose time and you will also keep your abilities because you might need them. I don't know why but I somehow have the feeling that this night there will be more than one Guardian life be saved." He smiled and reached out a hand. "Come, it's time."

And before the younger Echidna could say anything they had disappeared into the darkness again.

Another time Locke landed on his stomach but this time it was on a ground made of rocks and dust.

'Darn, I thought I had learned how to land properly well enough during the years of training. Guess not', he thought while getting up and wiping the dust from his bathrobe. 'At least my clothes stayed this time. Maybe because they're godly or whatsoever.'

He looked around and in the light of dusk he could see the ruins of a city around him? Echidnaopolis? But why had Athair brought him here? Should he return to the Master Emerald or... Haven! The thought was there so fast as if Athair had whispered into his ear. Yes, why not? If no one should recognise him he might need a change of clothes or at least something to cover his face without looking too eye-catching. And then he wanted to go to Albion. Something inside him told him that Knuckles was alright but he wanted to see it with his own eyes, wanted to hear it with his own ears. Where else could he find better information than in the new city of Echidnas?

Haven was dusty too. For months no one had been there anymore. Normally the sight of the dusted and slowly falling apart machines and electronic devices would have bothered Locke more but right now he had other problems to deal with. Later when he was allowed to show again he would return to clean Haven and repair everything.

The wardrobe in his room was full of older clothes, but not a sign of the tribal outfit he used to wear during the last weeks before his death. Sure, the last few weeks he had rarely been in Haven and had mostly spent wandering around outside or in the Emerald Chamber so he also never had hung those clothes in his wardrobe. He put on one of his lab coats - a lot of Echidna scientists wore these so he wouldn't be an eye-catcher to anyone - but he took white boots instead of his formerly blue ones - the combination of white coat and blue boots would have looked too much like Locke.

While walking through the rooms he found something else: Hawking's hat. The old Guardian once had given it to Knuckles but the boy never wore it so it first remained in his former residence and then moved to the Grand Conservatory - the place that was later used as Haven 2. He decided to take it with him too. Maybe he would have looked a bit strange because it wasn't fitting to the rest of his outfit but at least it was big enough to cover his face if needed.

Now Locke could have left but the tech wiz inside him told him to at least take a look into the main control room. He had awaited nothing but dust and silence. The more surprised he was when he saw one of the systems running. Someone had been here not too long ago. Knuckles? It must have been him because there were no other Guardians left and only a Guardian would have known how to get through the safety measures of Haven. He took a closer look and saw that someone had been writing on a program to crack an entry code and shut down alarm and surveillance cameras. Instead of finally leaving for Albion Lock was now even more interested and opened one of the sub-programs and something that looked like a time table. The time table showed him what the author of it had planned to do when but when he compared it to the sub-program he noticed that there would never be enough time until the alarms were functioning again. At the end there was a loop but that would never work just because of one little typo. He tried to correct it.

Access denied!

Well, that didn't work. What if he copied the whole code into the main program?

Access denied!

Locke silently cursed. The sub-program wouldn't even let him copy anything. And if he tried to type the whole code into the main he would have needed hours. So what else could he do? He racked his brain until he finally had a little idea. There was another program he once had written just for fun - it wasn't helpful if someone wanted to continue with their mission but it would give them enough time to escape and then they could try to think of another and better working plan. A few little clicks, a few little codes and it was finished. He entered a few little words into the time table, not just to be as correct as the author of it, also to show him that someone had worked on his program and give him a little clue what could happen next - not that he also would be as startled as his foes and miss his chance to escape. "Initiate space invasion." He smiled. If that wouldn't confuse the enemies then nothing could.

Suddenly Locke heard steps outside. Whoever had entered Haven was still here and now it was really time for him to leave. He took another door out of the room and a few other corridors that led him out of Haven. That exit was close to the edge of Angel Island and when he looked down he saw the white city of Albion not too far away. He should be able to fly there within a few minutes.

Locke landed at a safe spot a few meters away from the beach. If he had flown closer they might have recognised him as a Guardian. When he walked over the new bridge to the island he noticed how destroyed the city looked. They had started rebuilding it months ago but it looked like nothing changed. Had Robotnik started another attack or the Dingoes broken their word once again? He didn't think it was the Dark Legion because he still wanted to believe that Lien-Da was the most trustworthy Grandmaster of them all. After all she had sworn to protect the Master Emerald while Locke had been in war captivity and although it always had been the plan of her kind to destroy this Emerald she had kept word and protected it. And now she had promised that none of her Legion teams would attack the other Echidnas until both sides had recovered. He just wanted to believe it.

While he was thinking he accidentally bumped into someone. For a second he looked into Julie-Su's eyes then he quickly dragged down his hat, mumbled "I'm sorry, ma'am" and continued walking. He still could feel Julie's gaze in his back and now he heard Mighty's voice.

"What is it, Jules?"

"Nothing", she answered, "For a second I just thought I looked right into Knuckles' eyes but that was definitely not him. Besides I think he is still in the fortress in the woods."

Fortress? Locke never heard about that fortress but he needed to get there. He also could find out later what had happened to the city - maybe ask Knuckles after he had found him. At first he had no clue where or how to find the fortress but when he saw a taxi passing him by he got the idea that there were probably a few people who knew the area around Albion better than anyone else. He waved the cab but when it came closer he suddenly noticed who was driving it. It seemed as if Harry had decided to live among the Echidnas again. This guy knew Locke's face as well but it was already a bit too late to turn around and walk away again - and maybe also impolite if he already called the taxi over and now left without reason - so Locke dragged down his hat again and got in on the nearside. If he had sat on the backseat Harry would have been able to watch him through the mirror but on the co-driver seat the Dingo would have had to turn his head and that was something he couldn't do too often while driving.

"I thought I heard you Dingoes moved to the desert. So one of your kind has decided to come back again?" Locke asked.

"Yes, army life never had been the right thing for me. Besides I missed your ugly Echidna mugs after a while. So where d'ya wanna go, guv?"

"Uhm ... do you know something about a fortres near the city?"

"Oh, bad place. Knux discovered it a few hours ago in the fawerst due west. I approximately know where it is but I won't suggest ya ter go there. They are out for Echidnas, ya know, but so far they ignored any uvver species."

"But I need to get there. And I can take care of myself very well."

"Alright, it's your head what is risked, just saying."

While other cars might have gotten stuck already Harry had no problems driving his cab through the forest because the taxi was still one of those they had used in Echidnaopolis once - a hovering car. As long as the gaps between the trees were wide enough there was no way to stop it from moving forward. As long as they were driving Locke still had the chance to ask what had happened to the city.

For a second Harry stared at him and nearly crashed into a tree.

"In the name of the Ancient Walkers, have you lived under a rock for the last 24 hours? The city had been attacked by the Flame Legion. Not Lien-Da, before you ask. They are suddenly out of her control. Knux followed a group of 'em when they retreated from their last attack to find out where they are goin' an' as far as I know from the Chaotix he found their base in this forest - straight west from Albion."

Thoughtfully Locke played with the brim of his hat and dragged it even deeper over his eyes. So the Flame Legion was out of control, they attacked a city where a few of their own kind were still living and built a fortress within a very short time. The only explanation he had for this was very powerful magic and he knew only one mage evil and powerful enough: Finitevus.

When they reached the wall Locke got out of the taxi - the coins he found in his coat were enough to pay Harry's price - and waited until the car disappeared between the trees again before he flew to the top of the wall. He wasn't sure what he had awaited but definitely not that - enough tents and barracks for hundreds of soldiers, in the middle a dark tower - Locke could feel the chaos force originating from it - and somewhere in this town among all those soldiers there was his son. If he was all alone or with his friends, it didn't matter. After all they were just a bunch of teenagers in a camp full of well-trained soldiers.

Locke carefully glided off the wall and hid between the tents. Silently he cursed his white lab coat and the white boots - even in the night they were bright enough to be seen. But the Flame Legionnaires were busy with something else right now. Several soldiers ran to the tower. In the distance he could hear something that sounded like an alarm. He kept his fingers crossed that his little extra program would work and secretly followed the other Echidnas. He climbed up the stairs on the outside of a barrack. On the roof he not only had a better view but he also could stay out of the way and prevent being detected in this chaos. Commandos were shouted and then a voice sounded over the camp louder than everything else. Locke was sure it was coming from the tower.

"The intruders are not just in the tower. Look among our own lines and take him prisoner."

At first only heads were turned then a few moved into the same direction and one stumbled back a few steps then turned around and started running. A blast hit his back and he fell but it was not meant to kill him, only to stop him. Now Espio, who at first still had been invisible, jumped off a tent, ran to his friend and tried to help him up again but Knuckles could barely stand and Espio would have never been able to carry him. Within seconds they were surrounded. And then the voice from the tower sounded again.

"It's a Guardian. The last remaining Guardian. Let the tower take care of him."

The walls of the giant building were glowing and an orb formed in front of it, slowly got bigger and bigger. It looked as if the largest Chaos blast that had ever been seen was charging up. Chaos energy tingled on Locke's skin. Now it didn't matter anymore if Athair had told him to stay hidden or if the right time already had come or not. All he knew was that he didn't want to just stand back and watch the two boys dying. He ran to the edge of the roof, jumped, flew over the heads of the Legionnaires and landed in front of Knuckles and Espio.

"Stay behind me!" he shouted over his shoulder and formed an energy shield around them. He saw Knuckles' jaw drop in astonishment but he had turned his head too quickly to see if his son had really recognized him or if he was just astounded that another spy was there right in time to help them. Right now all of his concentration was on the shield although he knew that a blast of this force would easily break through it. And then? Well, then his own body would be the next shield. He already had taken a Chaos overload once, he knew what awaited him and again he was ready to give his life for his son. The blast was fully loaded and shot against them.

And then the sky ripped open. A bright gash split the dark sky and blinding light shot out of it. Locke had to close his eyes and when he could open them again he saw Chaos beams shooting everywhere but none was aimed against them. Over their heads two flying figures were locked in a battle for life or death. Locke couldn't recognize the other fighter but for one he was completely sure - he could see that he was dressed in cloak and helmet and who else wore this combination other than Spectre.

Another orb started charging. Spectre grabbed his opponent, held him tight and let himself fall down right into the glowing orb. The tower exploded.

When Spectre opened his eyes again he found himself floating through darkness.

'Good', he grimly thought, 'if this is really the after world then I have at least taken Moritori with me. And now I have to pick another bone with a few dead Guardians.'

He stretched his legs and felt a floor under his feet. Around him figures became visible - his deceased ancestors. Only Tobor was missing. Steppenwolf came closer.

"Spectre, we have awaited you. I want to welcome you in the name of all..."

"Cut it and tell me where Tobor is", the dark Echidna snapped. He knew this was the first real Guardian he was shouting at, he also knew that he was surrounded by ancestors and that maybe reverence was awaited from him but he didn't feel awed at all. His anger was overlaying nearly everything.

Steppenwolf lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. "Wow, we knew you were a hot-head but I guess nothing would have been able to prepare us for this. The level you are in at the moment is the level of unfeelingness - the first before reaching our higher level of existence. You shouldn't be able to feel anything at all."

"Well, actually I feel close to an explosion. Maybe you made something wrong and I'm not completely dead." Spectre knew he was right. He felt something inside of his chest that was dragging him back - tried to drag his soul back into his body. Well, he already had found a way out of the Twilight Zone so why not escape death as well?

"_We _did nothing wrong", now Moonwatcher threw in and put extra emphasis on the 'we'. "_We _are only here to guide you to your afterlife and haven't killed you."

"You already let so many little deaths from inside happen when you were still alive so how should I know you don't continue after your death?"

"What do you mean?" Harlan asked.

"I'm now speaking to those who were active Guardians during the time when Tobor was replaced by Moritori. I thought you at least were sometimes watching over the younger ones and over their training when you are in Haven. Don't tell me that no one had been in Haven for years during that time. You saw someone of your own kind - or at least back then he was believed to be one of our kind - slowly destroying his family. You must have heard about my mother's early death and that grandfather Hawking was cocooning in his own underground lair in the city, too broken to train me. So I was left all alone with someone who never wanted to raise a Guardian. He couldn't kill me but he tried to break me. I was afraid of my own 'father', of my own home but where else should I have gone? I was a little child and I knew nowhere else to go."

"We really didn't know about it", Rembrandt silently said. "Back then we didn't watch over our youngest Guardians as much as you do today. Those few times we had you and Moritori on the screen we couldn't see anything wrong. He even started your training. Maybe he was way too harsh and nothing you did was good enough for him but why should we have intervened just because of too strict training methods?"

"It's getting even better", Spectre said with a smile that couldn't ban the cold from his eyes. "After he saw that he couldn't kill me and every try to break me only made me a fighter he changed his tactics and tried to make me one of his kind. I already told Tobor that the cloak and helmet were good to hide and now the time has come to reveal what they are hiding."

He watched the others exchanging gazes while his hands slowly wandered to his helmet. For decades he only had taken it off when he had been sure to be completely alone and no one could disturb his loneliness but he already had started with the truth and now he would stand it through. He took off his helmet and watched their surprised or shocked moods. Parts of his dreads were cybernetic.

"Moriori just cut them off. He explained that he wanted to make me more impervious to pain. I also have other metal parts on my body but those at least were only made to replace part of the skin and not complete body parts. All the time I was a Guardian at heart but I had the body of a Dark Legionnaire. It was making everything even worse for me - knowing that it was one of that damn Legion who had turned my once loving father into a monster and then having to walk around with implants like one of them. Maybe a lot of pains could have been prevented if you sometimes just cared about your own family a bit more than about your duties and traditions. I'm not just speaking of my own pains. Guess all of you had the one or other feeling to hide. We're the Brotherhood of the broken hearted. And then some of those rules... I know rules are neccessary for an organisation like ours but some of them sound so ... illogical to me. I guess most of us only obeyed to the rules because they were, well, rules although we never understood why they existed. For example, why do we have to leave our children all alone at a very young age? They also would become good fighters if they could stay with their family until they were grown up. Why aren't the partners of Guardians allowed to take part in their children's education as well? It isn't like a loving none-Guardian mother or father could do harm. And why do we have to hide in a hidden base if it is one of our duties to protect our people? Shouldn't we rather live among them instead?"

Spectre looked around, saw his grandfather nod in agreement - Hawking first had stayed with Tobor until he had grown up and then after his son's rapid personality change moved to his own base in the city - saw Steppenwolf, Moonwatcher and Harlan exchange gazes - after all they were the first to be concerned about the rapid change among the Brotherhood but they never did anything to stop it. The others stared at the floor, thinking Spectre's words over.

Jordan was the first to speak again. "I was the first to go through the new system - I mean being left alone at a young age and I think it was only to my best. I learned self-reliance and I don't think I would be the individual I am now if I weren't allowed the opportunity to succeed or fail on my own."

"Yes, maybe Sojourner also wouldn't have been the individual he is now if I had decided to stay with him", Spectre coldly said, "but at least it would have spared him a trauma during his childhood - watching his father leave without knowing when or if he would see him again. If you ever had visited a city, not necessarily Echidnaopolis, any place would have been alright, you would have noticed that the kids there also have the opportunity to succeed and fail on their own, learn how to live their own lives and that all while staying with their families. Having to go through life all alone can make you a fighter but so can a good training as well."

Spectre deeply sighed. Seeing his ancestors taken aback by his words made him feel a bit bad but at least he now was a lot calmer again.

"We are aware of what we have done wrong in our lives", Steppenwolf said, "but we can't change it anymore so why did you want to talk to us about it?"

"Maybe you can't do anything about it anymore", the dark Echidna answered, "but I can. And to change my future I have to reconcile with my past first."

"Steppenwolf, may I say something?" a shy female voice was heard behind Spectre's back. He turned around and saw Janelle-Li. He couldn't remember noticing her before so either she must have stayed hidden somewhere all the time or had just arrived in this world.

Steppenwolf nodded and so she continued, "Aurora contacted me. She wants to talk to Spectre."

The first Guardian took a deep breath. "This is the second time in a row where a deceased Guardian is taken away by one of the Neo Walkers instead of going with us to another level of existence. I'm okay with it this time because it's Aurora's right to speak to the dead Guardian's but if the next time Merlin also shows up here I might get a bit mad. Alright, you may go, Spectre."

The dark Echidna followed his great-granddaughter until they came to a tall gate. There was only the gate and nothing to be seen behind or beside it.

"When you open it you will reach Aurora's realm", Janelle said. "Unfortunately I can't go with you any further."

Spectre wasn't sure what to say. The thought that she might have heard everything he previously said made him feel guilty. He only had wanted to address his ancestors and completely forgot that one of his descendants might have been among them as well.

"Listen, I don't know how much you heard but if I said anything that made you upset... It shouldn't mean that I want to abandon my duties, not at all. I know how important they are. There are just some rules I disagree with."

"I heard everything you said up to the part where you started questioning our behaviour. You know, why we have to leave our children at an early age and why we don't live among the people we protect and so on. Then Aurora called me and I didn't hear the rest of it. But don't mind, I'm not upset. You are right. And somehow we are all culprits and victims the same time. Either we make the wrong decisions and rules or we follow them blindly like sheep would run after the bellwether. I have heard that Knuckles thinks a lot like you about this system and even if you can't change a lot about the now existing Brotherhood you can be sure that the next generation grows up with a change - hopefully to the better." She warmly smiled. "And don't be worried about your father. That he couldn't come to see you right now was his only punishment. The elders just had a talk with him about his reasons why he had felt the need to interfere. He told us that he was sure your time hadn't come yet and it was enough to forgive him. Those feelings have a reason."

"If they have forgiven him what was the punishment for?"

"They only forgave him saving you, not staying and talking."

Spectre shook his head. "I guess not only the living Brotherhood needs a change. Who would have known that life after death is that complicated as well?"

Janelle chuckled then she looked at the gate. "I think you should better go now. It's not too polite to let a lady wait especially not if she's a goddess."

After Spectre went through the gate he found himself in Albion. No, this couldn't be the real city. All the streets were empty.

"Spectre, there you are. You are a bit late. When you didn't show up I got a bit worried you might have lost your way."

Aurora walked down the steps of the council hall. She smiled - a good sign.

Spectre took a bow and was glad that he already let his anger out on the other Guardians. It was one thing to behave like a jerk in front of his ancestors but it was better to encounter a goddess with politeness. After all she was the one to decide over his future fate.

"Young Guardian..."

He looked up again. The last time that someone addressed him that way had been over a century ago. But then again compared to her own age he was still very young.

"You have been through many fights, always have been a brave warrior and gave your life for others. And you also haven't been afraid to confront your past."

"I'm sorry for that. I was driven by my anger."

"Oh yes, I noticed." Aurora looked amused. "Maybe I'm not too used with Guardian rules but I guess you had your reasons for such a fierce talk with your ancestors." Her expression became a bit more serious but she still didn't lose her warm smile. "It was exactly this anger outburst why I ordered you to my realm. Steppenwolf was right when he said you shouldn't be able to feel anything at all. Even after your 'death' you remain a fighter. Something inside of you is fighting to get you back to life."

Spectre touched his chest. When he had been talking to the other Guardians he had nearly forgotten about it, but now the dragging feeling was there again and stronger than before.

"So will you send me back to life?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, and I don't even need to send you back on the usual way. Your body is calling your soul back and the only thing you have to do is being serious about following that call."

"I don't want to say that I'm afraid of death - not at all. But yes, my feelings tell me that my time on Mobius isn't over yet and I'm giving in to the call."

"Good."

"May I ask one more question?"

"Yes?"

"Normally you have heralds to spread your messages. Why did you ask Janelle-Li to lead me to you?"

"Heralds are mainly there for calling the dead to me. But after I noticed you also knew that you aren't completely dead I didn't want to worry you by sending heralds of death and chose someone you trusted instead."

"What do I have to do to get back now?"

"It's a lot like teleportation. Close your eyes and concentrate on your destination."

The Guardian closed his eyes.

"Spectre ... please ... wake up!"

"Sojourner... It's useless..."

Spectre heard the desperate calls of his son, the hopelessness in Thunderhawk's voice, he felt the cool air on his skin, felt that his wounds started to heal, he could also hear many other different voices but he didn't understand what they were saying. His eyelids felt so heavy but he had to force them open a bit, wanted to see what had happened around him, wanted to show that he was still alive.

"So-Sojourner, he's breathing. His eyes are opening." That was Sabre's voice.

The dark Echidna now forced his eyes fully open. He saw Sojourner, Thunderhawk and Sabre kneeling beside him, Knuckles supported by Espio standing just a few steps away. Flame Legionnaires were running around, most of them looking completely confused. He wanted to sit up a bit but that moment Sojourner lunged at him with a cry of joy and pressed him down to the floor again.

"Easy, you're choking him", Sabre said and tried to get Sojourner off Spectre's chest but only caused him to grab the dark Echidna's cloak even tighter.

"We thought we lost you. We really thought we lost you", he mumbled over and over again with choked voice.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily", Spectre said with a weak smile, "If death really wants to get me he would have to battle me first."

Knuckles felt torn. First he would have wanted to take a closer look at the stranger who had been willing to give his own life for the young Guardian but when the dust had faded the stranger had disappeared. Then he had noticed the other Guardians fighting their way out the ruins, had seen Spectre lying on the ground motionless. He wanted to find the stranger, wanted to know how his relatives made it back from the Twilight Zone and wanted to see if Spectre was alright - all at the same time.

He was relieved to see that Spectre was still alive but now he started to look around again in hope the stranger was still there somewhere. And then he saw him between the tents a few meters away. Between the dark grey tents and in the dim light of the early morning his white coat was like a flashlight. Their gazes met for a second then the stranger turned around and wanted to walk away again.

"Wait!" Knuckles shouted. He quickly told Espio that he already felt strong enough to securely stand on his own feet then ran to the tents as fast as he could. The wound at his back was still burning like hell but he bit the pain down. He wanted to know it, wanted to be sure.

At first Locke wanted to use the dust of the explosion to get away unnoticed but then he risked a look back and what he saw made him completely forget about his plan. He had searched for his relatives for such a long time, nearly given up hope to ever see them again and now they stepped out of the ruins. And then he noticed someone lying on the ground. It was still too dark and he was too far away but he was sure it was Spectre. His gut twisted. Now the others had seen the fallen Guardian as well and knelt beside him. Locke knew that he ran the risk to be detected but he had to stay at least until he knew what had happened to Spectre. His tense nerves made every second feel like an eternity. But then he heard Sabre's call that Spectre opened his eyes, heard Sojourner's cry of happiness and let out the breath he had hold without noticing. He now remembered that he had wanted to get away but before he could even make a single step he noticed that Knuckles looked straight at him. Quickly he turned around.

"Wait!"

He remained on the spot; neither could nor wanted to run away anymore, slowly turned around and took the hat off. Knuckles didn't even stop and fell right into his arms. Locke hugged him too but more carefully because of the wound on his son's back.

"I-I missed you so much, dad. It was so hard to live on ... k-knowing you gave your life for ... for me and the last time we t-talked to each other was ... a stupid fight and I ... I never had the chance to say s-sorry", Knuckles stuttered, tears running over his face.

"It's okay", Locke whispered, "It was a fight about something stupid after all and I know what hot-head you are. Just like me. We're both such knuckleheads."

Now someone else noticed the two as well. Sabre stood up and came closer, slowly because he wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation.

"Locke...?"

The addressed turned his head. For a few seconds they were just staring at each other and then with a few quick steps Sabre closed the gap between them and hugged Locke - and Knuckles - as well.

"Group hug?" Spectre's voice was heard. "What? It was just a suggestion."

"But how ... Remington said you are dead", Sabre said after a while.

"Well, thank Athair."

"Athair?"

"Guess we all have a lot to tell."

He looked around. There were still the confused Flame Legionnaires who waited for an explanation why they were standing in ruins, he also wanted to hear what Knuckles had been doing, how his other relatives escaped the Twilight Zone and of course there was his own story. So much to tell but now there also was enough time for it.

The cyborg opened his eyes or better said he opened his left eye while the cybernetic right eye started glowing. He already looked more like an robot than Echidna. Except for a few small parts of his body, his muzzle, his left eye and a small area around it everything was replaced or covered by metal. A tank on two legs.

"Get up", a cold voice said.

He followed the order, jumped off the laboratory bench he had been lying on and turned to the albino beside the bench.

"You know your orders, Xenin", Finitevus said, "I gave them to you while I was still working on you. Now go."

Xenin just nodded then turned around and left.

Finitevus went to another laboratory bench. An Echidna cyborg was lying there as well but he only had his left arm and eye replaced.

The albino knew that his tower had been destroyed but he didn't care. It was mere a diversionary tactic that would give him enough time to work on his main plan. Xenin already was a beginning of it, a first step to weaken the other side but the bigger part was still lying in front of him and it also would need a lot of work to make him function the way he wanted. Xenin had been easy - he was a soldier and used to taking orders. But this one... A grandmaster would take orders from no one except Dimitri and after there also was no way to persuade him he had to do a lot of brainwash. But it was possible after all and sooner or later even Kragok would have to bow to his command.


End file.
